Category Archives: Tanzania

I have wanted to climb Mt Kilimanjaro since I can’t remember when, and I have no idea why. Possibly something to do with the many documentaries on Africa I watched as a child. Long before I went trekking in Nepal or climbed in the Andes, Kili was on my list of things I really hoped to do one day. Well the day came! Continue reading →

Ever since I read Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari, I have wanted to travel on the Tazara Express – the railway line from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Kampiri Mposhi in Zambia, built by the Chinese in the early 1970’s. Whenever I mentioned this to anyone in Kenya, I was promptly told I was mad and given a zillion reasons why I should NOT take this train. It was deemed unsafe and unreliable and I was sure to get robbed! The trip could take anything from 2 days to a week, depending on how many times the train derails! Continue reading →

I admit to a mild sense of intrepidation as I boarded the ferry in Dar Es Salaam for Zanzibar. I still recall the 2011 disaster where it was initially reported over 2500 people were missing when a ferry sank between Zanzibar and Pemba! Reports still vary on this, but the latest ferry sinking was only a year ago! This was an ex Washington State ferry acquired by Tanzania in 2011 for the Zanzibar crossing, that sunk in rough seas in July 2012. It was allegedly overloaded! Continue reading →